A few weeks ago, I came to Miami with the full intent of having the time of my life. In a matter of days after arriving, I found out how true that statement was going to be.
James Valentino came back into my life like a hurricane and changed everything.
The erotic way he touched me caused my body to come to life, and every moment spent with him was intoxicating—however, it was short-lived and bittersweet.
The taxi pulled away from the house, and as it did, I didn't bother to look back. I had no idea where I was going, but with my phone in my hand, I knew of someone who might be able to help.
“Hello?" the familiar sweet voice said on the other end of the line as tears finally fell down my cheeks.
“Allegra… it's Becca. Can I come stay with you for a few days?"
“Of course, babe. I'll text you the address," she replied while hanging up the phone.
I barely knew the woman, and yet she had been kinder to me than most. She had told me back in the Bahamas if I ever needed anything, I could reach out to her.
Perhaps she knew this might happen… like a seer who could tell the future.
Allegra was far wiser than she appeared, but from what she said, she was just observant.
“Can you take me to the River Edge please?" I asked the driver as I wiped my tears.
“Of course, ma'am." The driver turned down another road and headed straight towards the ocean until a large black building came into view. The large bay windows of the building glistened in the Miami sun.
This woman had more money than I'd realized, and from the looks of it, she was living it up in Miami the way most people dreamed of living.
“Here we are." The driver came to a stop. Pulling cash from my purse, I handed it over to him, saying thank you as he got out to help me with my things.
Walking into the building, I followed the directions Allegra gave me, and before I knew it, I was standing at her front door, forcing back my tears as she opened it with wide arms and a shocked face.
“Oh, honey. What happened to you?" She ushered me in and closed the door. “I don't know what happened, but I have alcohol and food on the way. We are going to sit here and talk about this, because if you're leaving James' house, it means something bad happened."
Tears streamed down my cheeks as I laughed, nodding my head. “Thank you for letting me stay here."
“Oh, sweetie. You don't have to thank me. Go put your stuff in the room down the hall with the blue walls. Come out when you're ready."
Giving her a small smile, I turned down the hallway, feeling her eyes on me the entire time. One may think that being here with her was weird, but since the night at the club, the two of us had become close—and not sexually.
She was like a big sister to me, minus the weird idea of it, considering what we had done. She was just really close to me and helped me clear my mind with a lot of things.
Not to mention she put me in contact with a friend of hers who could help me with my dissertation. I had never had a friend like her before, and now with Tally hating me…
She was the only friend I had.
Stepping into the room, I sighed, looking around at the lavish beautiful set up it had. It was simplistic, but it reflected Allegra's nautical appeal. She loved the ocean and boating, and this was a highlight of her true loves in life.
Forty-five minutes later, and one amazing hot shower, I exited the room to find her standing at the bar, scrolling through her phone with an array of food in front of her and one huge pitcher of margaritas.
“You weren't kidding about the food and drinks," I chuckled as she looked up at me, laughing.
“I told you I had you. Now, let's pour you a drink, and then you tell me everything that happened." Allegra didn't waste time with preparing things. She pulled a tall, clear glass from the counter and filled it to the top, popping a metal straw inside before sliding it towards me.
Her eyebrows raised to tell me to start talking.
“James and I got into an argument earlier—" I sighed.
“Is that what happened to your face?" she asked with a cautious glance.
“My face—oh, no, no, no. This was someone else… my ex, Chad."
Her eyes widened, having remembered what I had told her in the Bahamas. “The super dick did that to you?! Did you call the cops?"
“No," I replied, taking a long sip of my drink. “If I had, it could have destroyed my future. His family is too powerful, and his dad is good at ruining people's lives."
Scoffing, Allegra rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “I hope James taught that little f*ck a lesson, then."
“Oh, I'm sure he did. He came home covered in blood."
“Honestly, Becca… it doesn't surprise me. I have known James for a while, and he isn't the kind of man that takes kindly to women getting beat on. He may seem sweet, but sweetie, he has a side to him you don't know. He can be dangerous."
I knew Allegra was trying to make me feel better, but it scared me to know he could be that way. Violence doesn't solve problems, and he took it upon himself to take care of something that didn't pertain to him.
“Yeah, I'm realizing that. We argued about it and then had amazing sex…"
Allegra choked on her drink after hearing my comment and laughed at my exaggeration of amazing sex. “Oh, well, I'm glad to hear it was amazing, but then what the hell happened for you to leave if you guys stopped fighting?"
Opening my mouth, I closed it again, trying to find the words I needed to let her know what had happened. My heart was shattered, but the argument with Tally and James kept replaying over and over in my head.
“Tally walked in on us," I whispered as a small laugh escaped me.
Allegra's eyes were wide as she stared at me. Her mouth was agape, and the wheels in her mind were spinning. “Oh, f*ck."
“Yeah, oh f*ck is right."
“What did she do? I mean, like I thought she was with her mom." Allegra said in disbelief, and that comment alone made me want to cry.
“She was, but she called James and let him know she was coming home early, and he knew she could catch us. But instead of talking to me about it, and us talking to her normally, he just let her walk in and catch us having sex."
“Damn," Allegra exhaled. “I bet she was f*cking pissed about that. Never did care for that girl. She always acted like she was better than everyone else."
Allegra wasn't wrong with that observation. Tally thought she was better than everyone else, and that was her biggest downfall. She didn't care about anyone else's feelings, and it didn't matter how many times she hurt you… if you hurt her, you were done.
“I didn't want it to happen that way." I tried to hold back my tears. “She flipped out, called me names, and I even think she called and told her mother."
“Did James not say anything?" she asked as she took my now empty glass and refilled it. “I mean, I can't see him just standing there doing nothing."
“Actually, he told her we were nothing, and I was just someone he was f*cking. That we were consensual adults or some shit. Then, when I told him I was leaving, he tried to get me to stay, and said he only told her that to get her to stop flipping out."
The entire time I had known Allegra, I had never seen her get upset about anything. She was a carefree spirit who lived life to the fullest. Everything was spiritual to her, and the world was hers to explore.
However, the moment I told her what James said, her happy persona disappeared.
“Are you f*cking kidding me?" she asked with narrowed brows. “He acted that way?"
“Uh–yeah. I mean, he stopped Tally after she hit me when she caught us, but other than that, he did nothing. He didn't even come outside with me when I walked out of the house. Instead, he stayed with Tally."
Standing from her seat, Allegra walked around to where I was sitting and wrapped her arms around me. The tears I was holding back cascaded down my face as I cried on her shoulder. “I'm such a fool. I went in knowing it was just sex, but then when he started acting like he cared, I thought maybe it could be more."
“It's not your fault, sweetie. Allison f*cked him up, and he obviously can't see a good thing if it slapped him in the face. Sometimes I swear I don't know whether to smother that man or beat his ass."
Laughter escaped me as I pictured Allegra beating James' ass. He was a very well defined man, and Allegra was a tall, blonde, bubbly supermodel who maybe weighed one-fifteen soaking wet.
“Allegra!" a voice yelled from the front door, followed by pounding. I knew that voice. It was James, and after everything he had put me through today, I wasn't sure why he was here.
“I'm not ready to see him. Please don't let him in," I begged her with wide-eyes and tears streaming down my face.
She was silent for a moment before she nodded. “You go hide in the back room really quick. I will get rid of him, okay?"
Moving towards my room, I stood behind the wall listening, and my heart dropped when I heard him. “Where is she?"
“She isn't here, James," Allegra replied.
“Yes, she is. I know she is here," he snapped. “I need to speak to her."
“She WAS here," Allegra emphasized. “She left about an hour ago. She dropped some things off here, but said that was because she didn't want to have to carry a bunch of stuff around. She left after that, and I have no idea where she went."
“Shit!" James swore. “If she comes back, will you call and let me know?"
“No, I won't. Not after what happened. I'm not getting involved in this, James. You are going to have to figure this out yourself. I mean, I love you to death, but you f*cked up."
Allegra's skills at lying impressed me. She would have had me believing what she was saying had I not already known the truth. With the shutting of her door and the sounds of footsteps, her head popped around my door with a smile.
“He's gone," she said softly as she gestured for me to come back out.
“Thank you for that. I hate putting you in the middle."
Allegra's eyes met mine, and she shrugged with a smile. “I'm entertained with this all, and look forward to seeing how this plays out. Consider it my real life drama show."
“It practically is with all the shit going on."
A heavy sigh escaped me as I bit my bottom lip, thinking about James and how he sounded. Had I seen him, I probably would have fallen into his arms, but after what he did, I wasn't sure what to do.
“You know—" Allegra said with hesitation, “you're going to have to see him, eventually."
“I know." Oh, god, did I know.
If I wasn't strong enough, he would end up breaking my heart completely.